In recent years, certain games of chance which have been exempted from the ambit of local gambling ordinances have gained immediate and widespread popularity. One such game, "Bingo" is now routinely employed by churches and other community groups for raising funds. In playing Bingo, at least one card, having a 5.times.5 matrix of squares and a number in each square imprinted thereon, is distributed to each player. Numbers are called by the moderator, and if a card has imprinted thereon the called number, that number is covered by a marker. The first person to cover all numbers in a given column, row, diagonal, etc., on a given card, wins. Since the game of Bingo appeals to all age groups, many players are of advanced ages for whom arthritic and other physical ailments make the act of depositing the marker on a called number difficult. And even for those players possessing a normal degree of finger mobility and dexterity, the placement of markers on the game cards, particularly when employing a plurality of cards for a single game, is a slow and laborious task.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an easily manipulable tool for retaining, releasing, and recapturing ringed Bingo markers, which tool can be used by young and old players alike to dispense ringed markers onto game cards and collect ringed markers from said game cards.
Although the tool of the present invention is specially adapted for use in playing Bingo, other uses of the tool in environments featuring the release of ringed members is contemplated. For instance, washers and nuts could be stored on the instant tool without modifying the structure thereof. This use is valuable, where, because of the thin elongated structure of the tool, nuts and washers could be easily released therefrom onto bolts and screws located in otherwise inaccessible areas (an automobile engine is one example).
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a compact, automatic tool for retaining and releasing ringed members which allows the user to gain accessibility to tight working areas.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a compact, automatic tool which normally retains ringed members thereon, which releases said ringed elements upon the application of pressure against the forward end thereof, and which includes a recapturing feature for picking up ringed elements.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the drawings and specification.